Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I get mine at Penzeys Spices. They have a store close to where I live, in Menlo Park. They have jars that you can open up to smell each product that they offer. It's a really fun place to explore.

I go to the Spice House in Illinois for freshly ground Ceylon cinnamon and soft cinnamon sticks. I like www.store.mustaphas.com for true Marrakech grown whole cumin seed and green anise seed. And for most general spices. I prefer Kalustyans for ground ginger and black and white peppercorns.

Ras el hanout is a problem because each Moroccan recipe has its own best blend. I'm still lookin'

Any Asian, Indian, or Middle Eastern market. I love Purpose Design on Etsy for pre-packaged spices to give as gifts.

Living in Brooklyn, I also go to Sahadi's. But unfortunately they recently did away with the bins (where you could buy as little or as much as you liked as you liked, or thought you could use) and now sell everything prepackaged (in their own packages). Even so its cheaper than anywhere else locally. But I also think they pared down there selection and don't seem to have the more unusual stuff anymore. I need to find an alternate!

My favorite is Adriana's Caravan. The very helpful and enthusiastic owner had a booth in NYC's Grand Central Terminal for years until Penzey's outbid her for the space. In addition to a vast variety of superior spices, she sells a number of hard to find items - oils, beans, dried mushrooms (including a great porcini powder), rices, and a good selection of hot sauces:

http://www.littleviews.com/home/newyork/adriana_caravan.cfm

It's a small, owner operated business that sells other products along with the house brand, and I always appreciated that she dispensed great cooking suggestions and advice when she had the GCT store.

Though I do duck into Penzy's in Grand Central when I'm there and in need of something, I'm an enthusiastic supporter of Adriana.

i always go to the indian and asian grocery stores - you can pay almost nothing for a lot of high-quality hard-to-find spices.

Late to the party as usual!

I brought home a small whole pecorino val d'Orcia when I returned from Italy a few weeks ago. I ate it slowly (well, at first anyway), at room temperature with some fantastic preserves.

It was the best cheese I can EVER recall eating. And now it's gone.

Why are people talking about making brownies with oil? Ew. Brownies should be made with butter only.
More on topic, I really would like to hear Ed's response to this... what studies link canola to vitamin E deficiency and heart disease?

I generally use canola oil when I want a neutral oil for cooking. I was always told it wasn't a bad oil. But I know how the tide turns on nutritional info so I'm open to all sources.

it's not that canola oil is "bad". It's actually better for cooking with then olive oil. Canola is higher in saturated fat which actually means it's better suited for cooking at higher temperatures. Olive oil, walnut oil and grapeseed oil (as well as flaxseed) are unstable at higher temperatures which actually destroys the bonds that make them mono and poly unsaturated fats. When you heat these oils, free radicals (uh-oh) can form. Here are some recommendations: oilve oil is fine for grilling/sauteing. for your brownies, you can stick with canola, sunflower, safflower or corn oil ( stay away from the generic vegetable oil). Buy olive oil in a dark colored bottle, preferably a mechnically pressed unrefined oil to get the most Omega 3 benefits. If you're using the oil for cooking, it's ok to use refined. For more information read Fats that Heal, Fats that Kill by Udo Erasmus.

Uh-Oh....sounds like SOMEONE got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning !!!

I learned a lot about oils in Alton Brown's book I'm Just Here for the Food. I recommend that to anyone interested. I liked Ed's information on Grapeseed and Walnut oils. With all these health-related food-sciency type of updates on the subject, I suppose I should upgrade my cabinet to the world of "fancier" oils rather than just stick by my extra virgin olive oil, olive oil, and canola.